Everyone looked at Mr. Lai with inquisitive eyes.
"Not me, not me!" Mr. Lai waved his short arms vigorously, sweating profusely, "I didn't say anything at the time, that wasn't my voice."
"If it wasn't you, then who? There were only the two of us in the room at that time! You said that after drinking this wine, we would be able to have a child." Mrs. Lai grew even angrier, her belly heaving and making gurgling noises.
This scene, which should have been bizarre, instead carried a hint of absurdity.
The onlookers at the door, their eyes nearly popping out of their heads, chattered excitedly.
"That wasn't me! It was those frogs, they were imitating my voice!" Mr. Lai pointed forcefully at the half-man-tall wine vat, his eyes filled with fear.
"That's still your fault! If you hadn't made this frog-soaked wine, I wouldn't have ended up like this! I might as well be dead!"
Mrs. Lai took out a photo from her wallet.
"Look, I may not have been a great beauty, but I had clear and expressive features."
"Now that he's become such a mess, if he can't be cured, I want him to leave with nothing and get a divorce!"
Everyone took a look at the photo.
It was their wedding picture. In their youth, they could be considered a handsome man and a beautiful woman, smiling happily at the camera.
But now, both of them look like reincarnated toads.
Forget about them, no one would be able to accept this transformation.
"I did it all for you! You were the one who always wanted a child, so I took the risk..." Mr Lai said aggrievedly..
"Is it my fault that we can't have a child? It's your body that's not up to par..." Mrs. Lai raised her voice.
Seeing that the two were about to start a full-blown argument, Liu Fugui hurriedly tried to calm them down.
"Alright, alright, let's not argue. Arguing won't solve anything. We're already at Sinisterium Pawnshop, let's explain the situation about the wine to Young Master Lu clearly, and he will surely have a solution."
The couple turned their faces away from each other, not looking at each other, both fuming.
Their stomachs were rumbling as if they were still arguing.
Everyone wanted to laugh but felt it was inappropriate to do so.
"Both of you calm down. Old Liu is right; you are here to solve a problem, not to argue."
Lu Fei had Hu Zi make tea and serve it to the two people.
"A married couple are like birds in the same forest. You used toads to brew alcohol in order to have a child, which is the cause you both created together. Therefore, the consequences should naturally be borne by the both of you."
Madam Lai opened her mouth, unable to come up with any words to refute.
"Manager Lu, we have been married for over ten years without having a child, and in our desperation to have one, we made a mistake!" Mr. Lai said anxiously, "I've brought the alcohol; please take a look and see if this matter can be resolved?"
Lu Fei walked to the half-human-height wine jar and examined the densely packed toads inside with great interest.
Soaked in the alcohol, these toads showed no signs of decay. They floated in the orange liquid with their eyes closed, as if they were just sleeping.
"You said this is called Golden Toad Wine."
"Yes, the folk remedy says that a golden toad is absolutely necessary. I went through a lot of trouble to get it from a farmer in the countryside."
Mr. Lai licked the corner of his mouth.
"I don't know what's going on these days, but even though I know there's something wrong with this wine, I can't resist drinking it, and the more I drink, the more I want to drink."
Originally, the jar was full of wine, but now it's only half full after being consumed by the couple.
"The problem lies with this golden toad!" Lu Fei leaned in close to the glass jar and, through the dense mass of toads, spotted one with golden skin.
"The golden toad has spirit. If you use it to make wine, won't it seek revenge on you?"
"It would turn you into toads so you could experience the pain of being soaked in alcohol. I guess when you are completely turned into toads, you will end up soaking yourselves in the wine."
After Lu Fei finished speaking, everyone gasped in shock.
The faces of Mr. and Mrs. Lai turned pale instantly.
"No wonder I've been feeling drawn to this jar recently..." Mr. Lai swallowed hard, feeling a chill all over his body.
"Mr. Lu, what should we do? Is there any hope for us?"
Mrs. Lai was on the verge of tears.
This was no longer just a matter of their appearance becoming ugly; it had become a matter concerning their very lives.
"The simplest solution is to offer an apology to this golden toad. If it accepts, you will naturally be safe and sound," Lu Fei replied calmly.
The couple exchanged a worried glance.
"What if it doesn't accept?"
"Then it gets complicated." Lu Fei waved his hand, "You should go back first, gather all the toads, clean them thoroughly, and find a piece of land with good feng shui to bury them. Then hold a grand funeral for them, wishing them an early entry into the cycle of reincarnation and a new life."
"Hold a funeral for toads?"
The onlookers were amused; this was unheard of.
"Mr. Lu, is it really that simple?" Mr. Lai was far from convinced.
"To be buried with human rituals and to be worshipped is a great blessing for animals. With such merit, they have the hope of being reborn as humans. Usually, they will agree."
"Alright, alright! We will start making preparations right away!"
Mr. Lai pushed himself up from the sofa and stood up with effort.
"Remember, you must handle all the arrangements personally! The more grand it is, the better!" Lu Fei instructed.
"I understand, I will definitely give them a grand burial as if they were my ancestors!"
After saying this, Mr. Lai began to make arrangements.
At this point, the couple stopped arguing and worked together to find solutions.
To save time, they looked for a feng shui treasure spot near Jiangcheng.
Liu Fugui, who knew many people, helped them contact a funeral home.
Initially, when the funeral home learned that they needed to bury eighty-one toads, they thought it was a prank and almost gave Liu Fugui a good scolding."
Liu Fugui had to explain and assure several times before the other party sent a hearse to pick up.
Mr. and Mrs. Lai, enduring their fear and discomfort, personally scooped the toads out of the wine jar and cleaned each one.
As for the wine, it was naturally reserved for Lu Fei.
Then they spent a large sum of money to find a decent burial plot and held a grand funeral, respectfully burying the eighty-one toads.
The couple also knelt and apologized devoutly in front of the grave, hoping to gain the forgiveness of the golden toad.
Their strange behavior attracted many onlookers, and someone even took photos and posted them online, saying they were seeking attention, but the couple didn't care at all.
By the time all of this was done, two days had already passed.
"Manager Lu! Manager Lu!"
In the morning, as Lu Fei was pondering how to deal with the jar of wine, the couple rushed into Sinisterium Pawnshop in a hurry.
When Lu Fei looked up, he almost didn't recognize them.
"Are you Mr. and Mrs. Lai?"
The two of them had mostly recovered, their figures were still a bit plump, but they no longer looked like toads.
Huzi kept marveling at the wonder of it all.
But the couple still wore worried looks on their faces.
"Manager Lu, we're finished! We did as you said, but that golden toad still won't let us go!"
"Didn't your appearance already recover?" Lu Fei was surprised.
"Our bodies are better, but the golden toad is still haunting us. I clearly buried it, but at night, it appears by our bedside!"
Mr. Lai, with a bitter expression, took out a glass jar from his bag.
A golden toad lay quietly at the bottom of the jar, eyes closed and motionless.
Even after being taken out of the alcohol, its body showed no signs of decay.